Respect for elders ...
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AOA
Ok this topic has prolly come up a 1000 times but i m still wanna start a discussion off ...
well most of us come from sunni families here (i m assuming) ... ummm do u guys think that we should listen to whatever our elders (parents) say in terms of religion all the time ? I mean yday my dad for some reason told me that Muslim men are required to shave their pubic hair (dont know if it is mentioned in the QUran !?) and i said i dont do it .. then he went on to say that we are so disrespectful etc .. i said we dont have to listen to everything parents say but he siad that disrespectful and they would never tell us anything which is against Islam .. now ok they follow hte sunni islam so thats why they think some things are wrong and others arent .. i have different views you see and i told my parents that the kids these days have a different kind of thinking and a positive thinking if i must say so ... my dad says that i m too young right now (1 and my mind is impressionable .. ouuuf .. after that i just shut up cus i dont know what to say ..
I tried telling them that but they say that Islam is the same for all times to come etc .. n i even told them i dont believe in hadiths and they said that i m not a muslim if i dont believe in them .....
I bet u guys are in a similar situation ... I m in this dilemma ... do u think that i should keep on listening to my parents till I go to UNI but if i disobey them even if they are not living with me then will that count as disrespectful as well ? I know that we in the end are responsible for our own actions but then again these questions keep coming to my mind and i tend to think about issues which i think differently about and my parents think differently about ...
I dont know what to do peeps ... roll -
dude!! i dont come from a sunni family but i do no that there is a lot of itty-bitty prescriptions on how to do even the most minute things....there is a tv channel here dude called 'islam channel' DUDE let me tell you...there are people who ring in the priest asking for guidance on even the most minute aspects of life! this is of course much to do with xadithic interpretation of alqoran....dude thats all i got, peace outwards.
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dude!! i dont come from a sunni family but i do no that there is a lot of itty-bitty prescriptions on how to do even the most minute things....there is a tv channel here dude called 'islam channel' DUDE let me tell you...there are people who ring in the priest asking for guidance on even the most minute aspects of life! this is of course much to do with xadithic interpretation of alqoran....dude thats all i got, peace outwards.
Im sorry Gent but your response was truly beautiful. shock
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Salam ammarb87,
God clearly tells us to respect our parents but not to follow them blindly - i'm sure you're not doing this anyway though...
Think of Abrahams example in the qur'an...and no, there's no shaving of pubic hair in the scripture.
Not following their religion does not mean to disrespect them. Keep studying and if you have to argue with them try to do it in the kindest possible manner. There might not always be the need to confront them but i don't think that "doing as if" is the right way either. In the scripture, true, we can deny our convictions if we fear for our safety or if we are forced - but does it fit in your situation ? Depends on many things that i cannot judge...
Good luck!
Elke -
Peace Ammarb
Here's a quote that graces the introduction of Gauguin's Journal "Noa Noa."
"When a man say's to me, 'You must,' I rebel. When nature (my nature) says the same thing to me, I yeild, knowing that I am beaten.." Jean Jacques Rousseau
Respect to me is listening to what another has to say and being honest to them, not doing something because they say you should. If what anyone tells you to do does not feel right within you then do not do it, a friend of mine told me "If it does feel right in your heart how can it be wrong?"
Well, if what a voice outside of you say's conflict's with that silent voice within then why go through with it? Honey may heal one man and cause an allergic reaction to another, only YOU know what is best for you, not someone who isn't you.
I am not from a Sunni family but a Shia family, they began poiting me in many directions when I began to study 'my' religion, I have found the best direction to turn to is within yourself.
peace,
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Peace,
Respecting the elders is one of the twisted things of the Sunni Religion, it seems like a good teaching but then is abused to make youngsters follow the elders blindly and also do things unwillingly without reflection.
The Quranic Scripture as someone has mentioned earlier gives a better model to follow, Abraham speaks to his parents, we are told to respect our parents and honour them but not to obey when they tell us to commit shirk.
Nural
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Respecting the elders is one of the twisted things of the Sunni Religion, it seems like a good teaching but then is abused to make youngsters follow the elders blindly and also do things unwillingly without reflection.
Well, most cultures worldwide teach respecting of elders. In places like China this is quite extreme at times. What I think you mean is 100% obedience to parents regardless of whether its right or wrong, am I correct?
The Quranic Scripture as someone has mentioned earlier gives a better model to follow, Abraham speaks to his parents, we are told to respect our parents and honour them but not to obey when they tell us to commit shirk.
Absolutely. And I extend this to mean 'doing unjust things' which I regard as sherk, not just worshipping a statue, as is often narrowly interpreted.
Oh, and before I forget.....yeah dude!!!!!!! Phew, almost got too serious there
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When I was alot younger, a man at the Mosque told me the Qur'an asked men to shave there pubs. I found this to be untrue later.
Yeah that was what my dad told me ... but I know its not written in the Quran .... I told him that and he said dont defy Allah's orders .. I just left it there cus I couldnt be bothered to have a lengthy argument ! lol
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I think the issue above is similar to the issue of beards--you can have it or shave it, up to your personal preference. Not something to be seriously worried about.
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yeah keeping a beard isnt compulsory .. umm we have this khutba thing every friday in ou college and the guy was saying that in some instances keeping hte beard is compulsory .. He didnt bother going into detal but yeah .. some ppl actually believe that the beard is compulsory ..
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yeah keeping a beard isnt compulsory .. umm we have this khutba thing every friday in ou college and the guy was saying that in some instances keeping hte beard is compulsory .. He didnt bother going into detal but yeah .. some ppl actually believe that the beard is compulsory ..
at least you can see the beard. What I don't get is the pubic hair... do people actually want to know about that?